"Do you want to see me every day, or get a postcard once a week and never see me again?"
"Option A, darling. I know I was gone a little too long this time."
Solomon tried to drown himself in a sea of soft pillows. He thought he could use some help from the whiskey on the table, and reached out with a trembling hand—only to have it stopped by the witch. Bayonetta knew all his little gestures too well. No matter how powerful and commanding the arcanist was out in the world, in front of her, his true self was always exposed. She held his hand down and leaned in, locking eyes with him.
Her gaze was like storm-laden gray clouds, evoking midnight nettles swaying in the wind, laced with frost and thunder. Her raven-black hair teased Solomon's nose like a crow's wing. Like all lovers, they argued—sometimes over trivial things, like what sauce goes best with steak. But they always resolved their issues in the way only lovers can: with alcohol, cigarettes, and stockings.
Solomon sensed the tremor of magic—Bayonetta had cast first. Though he couldn't see her move, he guessed the spell was Witch Time, allowing her to perform multiple actions in a fraction of a second.
She trapped herself in her own web. Solomon won the first round. But there were many more battles to come over the next five hours. He could only hope the Renaissance-era antique bed would hold up. Reproduction is what allowed humanity to conquer the Earth—if people weren't as fertile as rabbits, there would never have been enough excess labor to build civilization. So Solomon, quite naturally, obeyed his human instincts.
Deina ignored the entangled pair on the couch and walked past them into the kitchen to prepare dinner. She knew that after this kind of "battle," both the witch and Solomon would need to replenish their energy.
"My little stallion, don't think you've won just because I let you hold the riding crop. Even though I do enjoy a little pain," Bayonetta said with a mischievous grin. "Now tell me what's been going on out there. Reporting to your wife is part of a husband's job too."
"Really? Well, to be fair, this is something you'd find on the evening news anyway..."
The Avengers were in trouble—deep, serious trouble. This wasn't just a U.S. matter anymore; it was headed to the United Nations, though the U.N. was unlikely to accomplish much. Still, anything brought into public discourse needed to be handled carefully. The issue of artificial intelligence required intervention from secular governments, but for some, a more immediate problem was looming over the Avengers—the Maximoff twins were conflicted. They had found the Avengers weren't as despicable as they'd assumed, and now Immortal City had extended them an olive branch.
Steve Rogers, above all, wanted to speak with Solomon—to find out whether the arcanist had known in advance what Ultron's birth would bring. After the sky carriers had unloaded the civilians, the Avengers landed via Quinjet in the hangar of the Crucifix Rose.
"Welcome, my friends," Solomon said, seated upon his throne, making no move to rise. "I was just wondering how to get a sky carrier into UK airspace—assault transports don't have cloaking devices, after all. Seems you've handed me the answer. I hope the Royal Air Force hasn't been downsized. Otherwise, I was planning to pay Her Majesty a visit at Buckingham Palace."
"I'm here for answers, Solomon," Steve Rogers said bluntly, skipping formalities. "Did you know what Ultron's creation would lead to? I want the truth."
"Yes. Just like I knew Nick Fury's experiments with the Tesseract would trigger an alien invasion," Solomon replied indifferently. "Humanity needs warnings. Like, for instance, that extraterrestrial life can invade Earth—and our current tech is woefully inadequate. Or that artificial intelligence will rebel, and mankind must find another path. Humanity doesn't learn from fiction. Terminator didn't do the trick. Every word I've said was true—including the ones Deina relayed. 'Information demon'—that's what A.I. rebellion really is. Like a cancer in the marrow, an incurable, putrid tumor. Humanity isn't the first species to suffer from it. But it may be one of the last."
"At the cost of how many lives?"
"The mess was yours to begin with. I merely minimized the casualties. Tell me, Steve Rogers, do the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. have any right to accuse me? Would giving a warning have stopped the disaster? No. You would've carried on as always. And when everything fell apart, you'd turn and point fingers at those who saw it coming. Time may change the seas and sky, but not stupidity."
Even without rising from his throne, Solomon's presence was overwhelming. But Steve Rogers wasn't ordinary. His will was unbreakable.
"I don't blame you, Steve," Solomon continued. "I don't expect everyone to look millennia ahead. But I loathe those who point fingers from a moral high ground. Some people died today for nothing, for no purpose. I pulled them from that fate. I saved them from the deaths caused by your arrogance. Europe's destruction alone wouldn't have moved Kamar-Taj to act. It wasn't enough to endanger humanity itself. Avengers—this was always my plan: to sound the alarm and minimize the toll."
"Whoa, magic boy, that's... kinda harsh!"
"I'm not accusing you, Solomon. I just wish you had warned us before it all happened." Steve sighed. "You don't trust us, but we trusted you. That's the difference. If you had told us the truth, not one Sokovian would've died today. Why are you so cold? Why didn't you at least try to warn us? You don't know whether we'd listen or not, right?"
"I warned Nick Fury. He just boosted security and carried on."
"The Avengers aren't S.H.I.E.L.D., and you know it."
"I don't care about you, Steve Rogers. Or you, Tony Stark. Lazy, foolish, arrogant—that's all you've shown me." Solomon leaned back in his throne, looking down with a gaze like frozen steel. "This operation from Immortal City? It was my personal decision. You have no idea the price I paid—for the sake of a few thousand lives. You can't understand what I strive for. Avengers, your vision is still trapped on Earth. Now, before I get angry, get off my ship!"
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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